Compound archery bows have very stiff limbs that flex significantly less than those on traditional or recurve bows. Compound bows rely on cable tension between wheels or “cams” on the ends of the limbs to flex the limbs a small amount during actual use. Servicing the compound bow, however, requires the limbs to be flexed more than in actual use, in order to relax the bow sufficiently to release the cable tension.
Specialized presses have accordingly been developed for flexing the stiff limbs of compound archery bows for servicing the strings, cables, cams, and other components. Examples of compound bow presses include those shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,386,190 to Kurtz, Jr. (fixed limb-supporting rollers with a vertically movable riser-engaging bar located between the bowstring/cable and the riser); 6,968,834 to Gibbs (a first limb support at the riser/limb intersection and a second limb support farther out on the limb to bend the bow in a manner closely approximating the manner in which it is stressed during actual use); 7,185,644 to Kurtz, Jr. (similar to the Kurtz, Jr. '190 patent above, but with a pivoting roller on one spacer bar powered by a hydraulic jack to supplement the vertical riser jack for pressing parallel limb bows); and 7,597,094 to Pittman (linear translating limb-pressing members engaging only the ends of the limbs from outside the curvature of the bow).
The foregoing bow presses are believed to have one or more disadvantages, including being limited to pressing a single style of bow, or needing relatively complicated adjustments when pressing different styles or sizes of bows; lack of planar stability; a tendency to stress the bows' limbs more than necessary; and/or relatively weak drive mechanisms unsuitable for use with shorter and stiffer bow limbs.